UCSD Shaker Table Test

Largest Simulated Testing at San Diego State University

“Shaker Table Test”

In July 2016, we at SWS Panel got together with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, California Seismic Safety Commission, San Diego State University and a select group of industry friends and embarked on a journey to prove that we manufacture the strongest building panels available today. We were joined by the local fire department and students of SDSU to help run the numbers and show the true science and success behind the experiment.

Despite the earthquake hitting our beloved city so close to our test site and date, we pushed forward and continued construction on our test building on the SDSU Shaker Table.

Watch our video below to see how we held up to some of the most deadly earthquakes to hit California.

This research aims to evaluate the earthquake and post-earthquake fire performance of mid-rise CFS-building systems through full-scale earthquake and live thermal testing of a 6-story wall-braced system. Through partnership with cold-form steel and other materials suppliers, design engineers, and insurance entities, a unique experimental program is underway. Central to this effort is the construction of a full-scale portion of a 6-story CFS-wall braced building directly on the UCSD Large High Performance Outdoor Shake Table. Wall and floor systems for the building are assembled in a panelized fashion off-site, thus the overall erection time of the building is dramatically reduced. The test building will be subjected to low amplitude white noise motions and sequentially increasing in amplitude earthquake motions. Subsequently, live thermal tests will be conducted on two floors of the building, in corridor and room like spaces strategically designed to investigate thermal patterns that develop due to reduced compart mentation ensued during the earthquake motions. Read more